Legendarium: Lesser Tales
by 50caliberchaos
Summary: From Delia Ketchum to Professor Elm to Misty, no one is just a footnote in someone else's life. Everyone has a story to tell. This collection of one-shots and short story arcs serves to add some detail to the world I've built for my other Pokémon stories, providing insight into why some secondary characters are the way they are. Rated M just to be on the safe side.


AN: Greetings everyone and welcome to my collection of lesser tales. In an effort to keep my stories (_The Sun Soul_, _Foundations of the World, The King in the West_, and _Shattered Crowns_) coherent and consistent I've written a number of items supplementary to my 'big four' over the last year or two. These are an assortment of outlines, one-shots, and short stories that detail the adventures of characters other than my main POV protagonists which I could reference when I needed to get a feel for something a secondary character would do, or to remind myself of their backstory.  
>Recently the idea struck me that these reference materials might make an enjoyable read if I took the time to collect, edit, and post them. So that's what I'm doing. Writing for my main stories is still my priority, but when I get some spare time or when I get burned out I'll shift my focus to readying and posting for this lesser collection. Hopefully it will prove an interesting way to add some detail to my world and keep things good and fresh.<br>Now the downside to this whole endeavor is that I have over 200k words worth of this material and most of it is in the form of fragments, outlines, and other such raw resources. As such putting it all together and getting it fit for human consumption will be a chore. That said, the upside to its current formatting is that I can edit and post what I have in almost any order without detracting from the whole, which means that if you all as the readers want to see something in particular I can refocus my efforts on that particular snippet or arc.  
>As such this project should be one of my more (if not my most) interactive. I'm not going to post a list of everything I have, but if there's anything you want to see, just say so in a personal message or a review. If I have something similar to what's in demand I'll post it. If not then I can post perhaps the next best thing.<br>Hope you all enjoy! Peace!

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><p>Homecoming<p>

Branches whipping around her and giving way as she burst through the underbrush, one thorny vine catching her across the face and leaving an angry red line drawn from the outer corner of her eye nearly to her ear, Delia tore through the bushes and broke into a sprint across the grasslands beyond Viridian Forest. Gasping in a breath every time her feet struck the ground, the young woman risked a glance over her shoulder just in time to spot the cloud of swarming, buzzing creatures rising out of the forest behind her, stark against the bright afternoon sunshine like a pillar of smoke from a brushfire. Turning back to the flatlands before her, the trainer went to her belt and snatched a pair of pokeballs from their magnetic clips, every step carrying her farther from the forest at an ever faster pace. Nevertheless, the swarm of Beedrill descended from above and gave chase, closing on Delia in mere seconds.

Glancing back and then forward again, Delia slung her arm through the air and hurled one of the pokeballs far ahead. Even as the little orb snapped open and bathed the tall grass around it in blinding white light, the deafening drone of hundreds of buzzing wings thundered in the trainer's ears. Delia leapt forward, wrapping her arm around the neck of the Pokémon materializing from the cloud of light and swinging herself onto the back of the already galloping Rapidash. Dropping forward and pressing her frame against the Pokémon's back, she spurred her mount forward with a tap of her heels and hiss in the beast's ear.

Leaning slightly to one side Delia threw the other pokeball forward, watching as it arced through the air and split open, spilling a blast of light onto the plain. "Pull up alongside!" she ordered her mount, pointing to the newly arrived beast of battle, a glowing Ninetales sitting poised and erect. "Torch!" the trainer shouted, drawing the Ninetales full attention and prompting the lithe Pokémon to hop to all fours just as Delia and her Rapidash skidded to a halt alongside the shorter Pokémon. Twisting around atop her mount, Delia motioned to the descending cloud of Beedrill. "Light 'em up!" she shouted, "Firespin! Both of you!"

Whirling around, reflexively dropping low to the ground, and spreading its paws wide apart, the Ninetales opened its jaws and flared its many tails out in all directions. Simultaneously the Rapidash wheeled about, rearing up on two legs as it faced the oncoming swarm of massive insects and swiping its front hooves through the air. From between the Ninetales' jaws a ray of fiery light shot through the air reaching a point in space some ten feet ahead of the Pokémon before exploding into a whirling maelstrom of flame. From the explosion dozens of glowing whips lashed out, spinning through the air and slicing into the swarm of Beedrill. Likewise the Rapidash snorted, jets of glowing-hot gas basting from its nostrils for only a second before the whinnying Pokémon heaved in a breath and, rearing back on its hind legs again, loosed from its muzzle a spinning cloud of crimson fire that raced into the air and crashed against the cloud of insects.

The spinning whips and the racing cloud of fire joined in the heart of the Beedrill swarm, exploding with a thunderous report that instantly incinerated dozens of the murderous insects and sent the remainder tumbling through the air towards the ground. A wave of witheringly hot air buffeted the mounted trainer, throwing back her brown cloak to reveal the cream-colored suit of composite armor beneath just as a hail of smoking remains and smoldering debris rained from the sky. Watching carefully from the back of her mount, Delia sighed with relief and pulled her cloak back over her frame to cover her armor as those Beedrill who recovered from the blast retreated back towards the woods.

The young woman took a deep breath, patting her mount's side before sitting back up and staring towards the Viridian Forest. "Guess they've had enough," she said, almost under her breath as her Ninetales righted itself and trotted to her side, panting happily and looking up to her for approval. "Good girl," Delia sighed, pointing a pokeball at the creature and giving it a shake with a flick of her wrist. As a line of red light traced itself through the air between the ball and the Pokémon, Delia turned once more to the woods, scanning its edge a final time for threats as her multi-tailed companion vanished inside the pokeball.

After several seconds slipped by in relative peace, Delia shifted to one side, pressing her knees into her mount's side and guiding the Pokémon with her legs towards the south. "Excellent work," she leaned forward again to stroke one hand down the Pokémon's warm side, "I knew I could count on you."

The Rapidash snorted approvingly as Delia righted herself on the Pokémon's back. Both the trainer and the Pokémon stared south a moment, something like longing plain on both faces as Delia tapped her heels into the Pokémon's side and spurred it on. Just before sunset that night, the trainer crested a hill looking down on a city composed of white bricks and laid out on a near perfect grid of cobbled streets. Viridian gleamed like a gem in the evening light as Delia rode up to the edge of town. Stopping on one of the outermost roads, Delia dismounted, returned her Pokémon the pokeball at her belt, and fastened her cloak a little tighter around her frame to conceal her suit of composite plates before entering the city.

Taking her dinner alone in a cramped room at one of the city's smaller inns, Delia ate in silence before pulling a third pokeball from her belt. She threw the ball against the ground and hopped onto the twin bed in the corner as the vortex of light spun into the rough shape of a quadrupedal Pokémon. Stepping out from the column of light as its jagged spikes of fur took on their natural yellow hue, Delia's Jolteon quickly scanned the room around it before its black eyes settled on its trainer. The Pokémon jumped onto the bed and into the awaiting trainer's arms, turning about several times as if to pat down Delia's lap before settling down.

Being careful not to startle the Pokémon, the amber-eyed trainer scratched the Jolteon atop its head and behind its ears, eliciting contented hum from deep in the creature's throat. "You're going to keep your ears open?" the trainer took her Pokémon's face in her hand and nuzzled its nose with hers. "Let me know if any of the bad people come for me in the night?" she playfully moved the Jolteon's head up and down a few times. "Good!" Delia laughed, dropping back on the mattress, having yet to remove her armor, and curling around her Pokémon before falling almost immediately asleep.

Waking the next morning, Delia barely took the time to return her Jolteon to its pokeball and put her mahogany hair up in a tight bun before leaving the shoddy little inn. Walking through the predawn gloom to the southern edge of Viridian, the trainer loosed her Rapidash from its pokeball, mounted up, and rode off at a quick trot, angling south.

Riding through the day without interruption, Delia traversed the roughly cut path of Route One and arrived at the edge of the thorp of Pallet Town just as the sun descended halfway below the western horizon. Sighing with relief, Delia dismounted and returned her Rapidash to its pokeball. "Good to be home," she smiled wide and reached up with one hand to pull the pins holding her hair in place. Walking down the main road, a gentle breeze blowing in from the bay to the south and filling the air with the smell of salt and sand, Delia stopped before the main doors of a tall building of stone constructed a stone's throw from the coast. The steel door set in the side of the stone building's North wall slid open even as Delia raised her hand to knock and out walked a short girl with a bowl-cut of thick black hair and glasses the young trainer guessed could serve as a weapon of their own.

Nearly barreling into Delia and only avoiding her because the trainer stepped nimbly to one side, the young girl in the glasses stumbled to a stop, barely hanging onto her thick leather satchel. "Oh, Delia," the flustered girl clutched her pack to her chest, looking up at the trainer who stood several heads taller than herself. "Sorry about that."

Delia turned to the side and looked between the child and the room beyond the laboratory's open door. "Perfectly alright Aisha," answered the taller girl. "Just watch that next time, you always come hustling out of here and someday you'll crash right into someone."

Aisha laughed uncomfortably and put one hand behind her head. "Yeah, I'm bad about that," she responded.

"Hey," Delia transitioned, "is my father in or is he out on one of his excursions?"

Her face paling some, the little girl in the white coat nervously adjusted her glasses. "He's in," she answered sheepishly. "He's in a terrible mood though. You might want to wait to see him until he's chilled off."

"Thanks for the heads up," Delia muttered, walking past the girl before pausing and turning back to her. "You're a good kid Aisha, and I'm glad you're here," said the trainer, staring down at the girl, her eyes moist. "Keep up all your good work and you'll make a hell of a trainer someday."

The little girl beamed. "Coming from you," she almost shouted with excitement. "Thanks Delia!"

The young trainer nodded towards the rest of Pallet Town. "Get on home," she said, turning and walking into the laboratory as Aisha trotted off. Pausing a moment as the steel door automatically closed behind her and locked shut with a heavy click, Delia waited for her eyes to adjust to the brightly lit interior of the building. "Dad!" she called out, listening a moment thereafter as her voice echoed off the sterile walls and the tile floor. Hearing only the beeping of computers and the humming of the fluorescent lights overhead, the trainer walked a little deeper into the lab, calling out once more for her father. Hearing the beep of the building's elevator, followed by the characteristic whooshing of the device's doors, Delia stepped around the corner of a wall of blinking machinery just as the door of the elevator set in the lab's east wall closed behind a tall man in a white coat. "Dad," Delia smiled, instantly catching the man's attention.

Looking up from a clipboard, Professor Oak's dark eyes focused on the girl before him. His face twisted as though he were trying to smile and the expression died halfway through its formation. A scowl then tugged down at his lips and the creases running across his forehead grew darker. "You're almost fortnight late," he responded, his voice strong but gruff. "I was about to send out another party to look for you. It's not as if Cerulean is on the other side of the world so what took you so goddamned long?"

Instantly devolving from a smile to a snarl, Delia's expression soured. "Don't bitch at me old man," she barked at him. "It's not my fault you have no sense of scale or how long it takes to get from A to B so why don't you try looking at a fucking map sometime before criticizing me for doing your goddamned job?"

The atmosphere between the father and daughter grew even tenser as they stared each other down for a moment. It was, however, Oak's scowl that began to give way first, and as his kips twitched and his chin furrowed, the weathered professor fought to hold onto his irritated expression. Delia's snarl likewise cracked despite her best efforts to keep it intact, and both daughter and father burst out laughing a moment later before running to and embracing one another.

Oak clapped the girl on the back, holding her tightly to his chest. "So what took you so long?" he asked. "I really was about to send out a search and rescue party."

Delia took a moment to hold onto her father before loosening her grip and stepping back. "I am sorry about that, but," she answered, her smile falling, "I sort of got lost," she trailed off for a moment before continuing, "in the Deep Roads."

His expression melting from shocked to concerned and back again, Oak looked Delia up and down. "How did-" he stammered, "I mean when- But you're alright?" he managed to ask at length.

"I'm fine," Delia nodded, turning around and dropping her cloak from her shoulders to her elbows, revealing the armored plate secured over her back and the wickedly jagged series of trenches carved from the top of the composite materiel to the bottom by a set of monstrous claws. "Your armor is a different story, but I'm fine."

Nodding to a table and chairs arranged in a little waiting area by the elevator as his daughter pulled her cloak back up to her neck, Oak laid a hand on Delia's shoulder. "Hungry?" he asked.

Delia shook her head and walked with the older trainer to the chairs, sitting opposite him and settling comfortably into the lushly upholstered seat. "Thanks but no," she answered. "I've been nauseous as hell the last two weeks."

Leaning forward in his seat, Oak rested his elbows on his knees. "How are you doing?" he asked. "Really?"

Shrugging, Delia opened her mouth to answer but stopped short, turning to look west and out the narrow windows that circled the laboratory's walls just below the ceiling towards the sunset. "Honestly?" she muttered. "I'm kinda tired dad. I spent a week in the Deep Roads just trying to get out and, well," she smiled, though the expression quickly gave way to an exhausted stare, "I don't need to tell you what's down there."

Hands folded pensively in front of his mouth Oak nodded along. "Indeed," he muttered. "That's why I explicitly _ordered_ you and Giovanni to stay together down there at all costs, and to come up _immediately _if anything went wrong."

Delia raised a hand. "Relax," she said flatly. "It's not like I intentionally went off on my own."

Professor Oak raised an eyebrow. "So what happened?"

Turning again to look towards the orange clouds outside, Delia crossed her arms over her chest. "We met up outside Cerulean Cave with the mercenaries you hired as planned. Giovanni and his men took point while the soldiers Birch sent from Hoenn backed them up. I took rearguard with the mercenaries at Giovanni's insistence. We met almost no resistance and followed our previous path to subsection nine, where we had to stop and retreat last time, where we encountered extremely heavy opposition from the guardian's monsters. We managed to fight our way to subsection sixteen but lost so many men along the way that Giovanni insisted we pull out even though we'd broken all the resistance up to that point."

Nodding again, Oak pressed his hands more tightly together. "Good call," answered the professor. "You can't be too careful down there."

"Well," Delia shrugged, "yeah. I wanted to push forward but he said no and from there we retreated back to our camp at section nine, and good thing too. As we were falling back we ran into another group of the guardian's forces that had been sent around to envelop us. We took them apart easily enough but by the time we did the main force arrived from deeper in the tunnels. Giovanni and Birch's men dug in to hold them off while I took a handful of my men farther up towards the exit to make sure none of the monsters wandered out of the cave and into Cerulean."

Running a hand through his salt and pepper hair and wearing a mask of unbelieving disapproval as he did so, Oak shook his head. "Delia," he said, no humor whatsoever to be found in his tone. "I ordered you all to stay together, and you told me splitting up was unintentional."

"No," Delia interjected, "I said getting lost in the Deep Roads was unintentional. My men and I split off to protect Cerulean. Besides, it was Elm's men attacking us that got me lost down there."

"What!?" Oak exclaimed, audibly shocked and angry. "You're telling me Elm had men down there?"

Delia shrugged and leaned back into the chair. "Surprise," she held her hands out to her sides in feigned celebration. "But yes," she went on, more seriously, "on our way to the entrance my men and I encountered a group of trainers who claimed Elm sent them. I tried to talk but they attacked and it turned into a running battle that took us off the mapped paths and deeper into the tunnels. By the time I got away I'd been completely separated from my men."

"Delia," Oak groaned. "I'm sorry. Had I known Elm would be sending men-"

"I'm alright," the young woman went on, smiling and holding up a hand placating. "It was a rough few days but I came out high on Mt. Moon not too much worse for wear. From there I rode straight here and," she shrugged, "here I am."

Oak paused and looked for several long seconds as though he were about to say something, but each time he began to speak, the professor pulled back and refrained from going on. "You're sure you're not hurt?"

"Yes," Delia answered. "I'm alright, fine really."

Oak smiled and gave her a single nod. "Well that's good," he answered. "But not exactly what I meant when I asked if you were alright. I meant, how are you and doing with the baby?"

Reflexively, Delia moved one hand to her abdomen. "We're surviving," she answered before a grin overtook her face. "Honestly I think I'm at more risk of grievous bodily harm from this little guy's kicks than from anything down in Malebolge."

"Good," Oak nodded, leaning back in his seat. "Can't have anything happening to him, or her as the case might be. Not after everything we've been through to get this far."

"Yeah dad," Delia went on, her tone growing almost sheepish. "About that."

Obvious curiosity overtaking his expression, the professor ran his hands along the arms of his chair. "Something wrong?" he asked.

Delia refrained from answering for another few moments before standing from her chair, prompting her father to do the same. "Nothing's wrong per se," she confirmed. "Anyway, we can talk about it tomorrow. For now I just want to get home and sleep, but I figured I should report in first given how late I am."

"Of course, of course," Oak motioned for the door. "I'll walk you out." The father-daughter team moved away from the sitting area and through the maze of laboratory equipment in silence. They stopped at the door, embraced again, and stepped outside.

Standing with his hands in the pockets of his coat, Oak stared west as the sun dipped behind the horizon. "Oh," he said as though the sight jogged his memory. "Bruno called on you last week, in person actually."

Delia sighed, following her father's gaze west and south. "Dare I ask?"

"He only wanted to ensure you knew Lance's offer is still on the table," answered the professor. "Bruno asked me to relay that 'your old position as Prime Ranger is still yours if you want it with the potential for promotion to the Indigo Elite' or something like that."

Shaking her head, the young woman kicked lightly at the dirt with the toe of one boot. "No," she answered. "I told them when I resigned that I wasn't going to come back."

Oak smiled, laughed once, and continued staring west. "There are days you baffle me Delia."

"Dare I ask?" she repeated, this time with an edge of exasperation in her voice.

Pausing for several long seconds, Oak shifted his gaze many times between his daughter and the sea behind her. "You're one of my most successful students," he answered at length. "You started learning to train Pokémon at the same time you were learning to walk. You caught your first when you were five and by ten you had a team that could give most Gym Leaders pause." He looked to his trainee with a combination of curiosity and befuddlement. "You were the youngest Prime Ranger ever chosen by the Elite Four and, I might add, the first and thus far only female to hold the office. Hell," the weathered professor scoffed, "Lance asked you to join the Elite Four, twice, but no," he went on. "You'd rather spend your days with Giovanni, being a homemaker. If I didn't have assignments for you, I don't think you'd ever leave that house."

"Not this again dad," Delia turned away and faced the sea. "I've said it a million times," she looked to him over her shoulder. "That's not the life I want."

"The life you want isn't a life," countered the professor. "Staying home, cooking, cleaning," he paused a moment. "You're capable of so much more than that."

Shaking her head, Delia crossed her arms in front of her chest and sighed. "Dad," she stopped and shifted her weight, looking at the ground. "We've been over this. I don't want to be Prime Ranger, I don't want to join the Elite Four, I don't want any of it."

"Then what do you want?" Oak pressed, obviously impatient with the direction the conversation turned.

"A family," Delia answered without hesitation, "and to stop arguing about it," she went on, polite but firm. "And once the baby is born that _is_ going to be the end of it, no more assignments, no more wandering around in the wilds, no more missions into Malebolge," she sliced one hand through the air as if to lend finality to her words. "When this baby's born we're out, both of us," Delia laid one hand over her abdomen.

Taking a step forward, Oak started to speak but stopped himself, electing instead to simply put a hand on his daughter's back and turn with her to watch as the surf of the bay rolled up on the beach and back out again. "Well that's fair enough then," he began calmly, "I can only imagine how tired you are of this old man's harping, so I guess that's that. No more assignments or anything like that." He paused and sighed. "You've got to do what makes you happy."

Delia stepped closer to her father, relaxing against him and dropping her head on his shoulder. "You've told me that before, several times," the young woman grinned as Oak rubbed her shoulder.

"This time I mean it," Oak answered. "If you don't want to join the Elite Four or clear out Malebolge I can't make you, nor will I even try." He trailed off, just standing there with his daughter for a long time as the sky grew progressively more orange. Though as the clouds began to turn crimson and the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the weathered professor cleared his throat and looked down to his daughter. "And the child?" he asked.

Delia opened her eyes but stated still out to the bay. "What about them?"

"The plan was always that we'd train them together, you and Giovanni and I," Oak answered. "I'm sensing that's subject to change within the next year or so."

The younger trainer was quiet for a long time then, standing silently and listening to the surf and the wind. "I didn't have what I'd call a normal childhood," she said a while later. "Mom left so long ago I don't even remember her face or what she sounded like, and after that it was just you and me, trekking from Goldenrod City all the way to Lavender Town."

"They aren't all bad memories I hope," Professor Oak interjected, sounding almost anxious.

"Hardly," she consoled. "Though the time you fell into that Ariados nest and I had to pull you out isn't something I'd want to relive anytime soon," Delia laughed as Oak looked away with a hollow chuckle. "I just don't want them to grow up having to wish they'd had a childhood, future savior or not, I want them to grow up safe and happy."

Oak smiled. "You're going to make an excellent mother," he said happily, holding his daughter a little tighter. "But unless I've completely miscalculated," he nodded to the barely visible bump he knew rested beneath the younger trainer's armor, "neither one of us will be able to hold that child back from being the best trainer Kanto has ever seen. And they're going to need training, they're going to need to know where they've come from, who they are, and what's expected of them."

Her face instantly hardening, Delia stepped away from her father. "Absolutely not," she retorted, going on before Oak could respond. "I've told Giovanni and I'll tell you, again," her tone grew lower but remained genial, "my child will _never_ be anyone's weapon. Now you can train him all you want, teach him to be the best trainer in Kanto, but you're not going to load him down with the responsibility of cleaning up all your messes or fulfilling all of your dreams."

"Alright," Oak put his hands up between himself and his daughter. "Fine, you win."

"Promise me," Delia insisted. "Even if something happens to me you won't tell the child about being a savant, not until they're older at the very least."

"I promise," answered the professor. "You have my word, not until they're fully grown."

"Good," the young woman answered. "I'm all too aware you're bluffing to get me to back off, but I guess I can't ask for much more right now."

Oak folded his arms and balled his hands into fists. "I wish you'd give me the benefit of the doubt once in a while," he said. "I realize I've hardly earned it, not having the best track record with honesty and all that, but I mean it Delia," he paused and looked at his daughter. "If it means that much to you, then you've got a deal: I'll do everything I can to make sure the child has as normal a childhood as possible while still ensuring they're properly trained."

Still staring at her father, the young trainer nodded once. "That will do," she answered, "I just," she started up and trailed off again. "Thanks dad," she said at length, walked forward, and embraced her father. "Now, if you don't mind, the only thought that's been keeping me going the last few weeks has been getting home and reacquainting myself with my shower. If you'll excuse me," she said, stepping back and releasing her hold on the older man.

Oak waved as she turned to leave. "Of course," he answered. "I'll see you tomorrow… Delia," he called, reaching out as she turned around to look at him even as she walked away. "I love you."

A wide smile breaking across her face, Delia waved to her father as the distance between them expanded. "Love you too dad. See you in the morning."

Turning back to focus on the road before her, the young woman paced along the road, reaching up and fiddling with one of the thick leather straps holding her breastplate in place as she moved. Arriving at a nondescript two story domicile tucked away in an inauspicious corner of the town, Delia pulled a brass key from a pouch on her belt and unlocked the door. Walking over the threshold she pulled on the last latch supporting her armor and kept walking without hesitation as the composite sheets fell away from her frame and clattered noisily to the floor.

Leaving a trail of discarded clothes and plates of armor between her front door and the second story bathroom, Delia ran a bath, crawled into the tub, and sank almost completely beneath the surface of the steaming water. Closing her eyes she leaned back with a contented sigh and rested her head on the folded towel she'd set on the curve of the edge of the tub. "Good day," she muttered happily, resting one hand on her abdomen. "Yep, that went pretty well."

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><p>AN: I've always wanted to write a one-shot or perhaps a short arc on Delia. Even back when I watched the anime I thought she was an underutilized character, not surprising really as good mothers in most fiction are usually relegated to a supporting role at best. Anyway, Delia always struck me as someone with more history than she let on but there wasn't much I could do with her since <em>The Sun Soul<em> was about Ash and his story started only very shortly before Delia was killed.  
>Everyone has a story all their own after all, and that's what this collection of one-shots and short stories is all about.<br>More coming soon!


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